quote:

Originally posted by txlonghorn:
Really? A pH was shot and thankfully sustained what appears to be superficial wounds and all some of you can say is shit happens? As the previous poster said, if this was a client who was shot, shit happens won't cut it. He would be banned from the profession. I don't know Tim from Adam but I do appreciate his report. I appreciate it for the opportunity to learn from it not to say shit happens and let's move on. I refuse to believe that there's nothing to be learned from this other than "it's BUFFALO hunting boys and PH's signed up for this and if you hunt enough DG you're going to get shot in the back by one of your clients!" or "It's BUFFALO HUNTING so none of the usual safe gun handling rules apply, it's every man for himself if a buffalo runs at you!" or "He chose to be a PH for DG therefore he should be prepared to be shot in the back by a client one day, it's part of the job you see.". Learning from this is not a bad thing, on the contrary not trying to learn from this and saying "that's just buffalo hunting, someone getting shot in your party is to be expected since we are not hunting sissy PG's!" would be a tragedy.

quote:

My PH was ahead of me as we heard some noise ahead of us. He stopped and I stepped to the side.

quote:

Originally posted by Buzz Charlton:
Personally I feel that surely we must direct positive thoughts to the healing of the physical and emotional scars rather then try to determine where the fault was when there , in my eyes, was no fault other then that of bad luck for which we have no control over anyway!

quote:

Originally posted by D'Angelico Fan:

quote:

Originally posted by Buzz Charlton:
Personally I feel that surely we must direct positive thoughts to the healing of the physical and emotional scars rather then try to determine where the fault was when there , in my eyes, was no fault other then that of bad luck for which we have no control over anyway!

In his own words Mr. Herald ASSUMED the buff was fleeing when he burst from the brush.
It seems the wrong state of mind since visibility was down to 10 yards at the farthest. Don't you
need to be thinking, "It's nasty here; and he might COME!". UNINTENTIONALLY Mr. Herald
pointed his rifle at his PH and at the same time UNINTENTIONALLY hit the trigger shooting
the PH. Poor muzzle control and poor trigger control clearly are two factors; add them to
the initial erroneous assumption. Walking backwards in the highly stressful situation of
the charge is another factor. If we don't critically analyze these unintended shootings of
people we reduce our ability to lessen their frequency. There is no evil intent in this
incident. But I do think fault can be determined and learned from. Morally I'd submit that
we must try to learn from such serious incidents. I reconstructed the incident putting it
into the context of a police involved shooting in a typical big USA city. If you read it
through I think there's value in it.

Four cops comprising an arrest team have tracked their fugitive, (a guy
known to carry knives and whom has threatened to kill any cops who try
to arrest him) to his residence in a high rise, high crime district
apartment building. The cops are in the hallway tactically positioned
from each other and moving forward at the same time, toward the fugitive's
apartment door. Cop 1, on point, gets to within 10 yards of the fugitive's
apartment door and it bursts open. The fugitive, bearing a ten inch knife
in each hand charges toward the arrest team. Cop 4 , who was several yards
behind Cop 1 ASSUMED when the fugitive burst through the door that he was
fleeing. As those ahead of Cop 4 repositioned, Cop 4 saw that his ASSUMPTION
was wrong; and that the fugitive was running toward the arrest team with the
knives in his hands thrust forward. Cop 4 starts to walk backwards while
bringing up his 12 Ga. shotgun loaded with slugs. Then Cop 4 slips on a
banana peel, starts to fall backwards, fails to control the direction that
his shotgun's muzzle is pointed such that it is now lined up with Cop 1 's
back, at the same time fails to keep control of the trigger of his shotgun,
hits it, firing a slug into Cop 1 's back causing serious injury, and but
for the Grace of God does not kill Cop 1 . Cop 1 by the way, a micro-
second before being shot himself had fired at the fugitive who then turned and
ran off to some unknown location.

What do you think the police department does with these facts? They analyze
them in pursuit of reducing the number of future "Friendly Fire" incidents,
that's what. They make a determination as to whether or not all parties acted
in compliance with ALL OF THE PROCEDURES THAT ARE IN PLACE INCLUDING SAFETY
PROCEDURES, THAT'S WHAT. If violations of those procedures are determined
to have occurred BLAME IS PLACED! The office of the PROSECUTOR analyzes
the facts to determine if CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE OR WRECKLESSNESS CHARGES ought to
be presented to a Grand Jury to vote on.

A man was SHOT people! If you and your 20 year old son go on safari and the PH
shoots your son OR YOU SHOOT YOUR SON, will you be equally tolerant toward that
PH OR TOWARD YOURSELF, as you are being toward the shooter in this case? I sure
have read alot of posts in his thread that sound quite nonchalant about a man
being shot.

quote:

My PH was ahead of me as we heard some noise ahead of us. He stopped and I stepped to the side.

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Herald:
Stu is good today. I guess his humerus was also broken by shock of bullet, not actual bullet. They want him to heal some and then go in and try to patch him up.

Thanks again for all of you have supported me - this is tough for everyone involved. I have talked to Stu's dad, and he said Stu is in good spirits...

quote:

Originally posted by Hunter54:
First and foremost- I wish Stu a quick and speedy recovery. \My prayers are with him and his family.

Second, a few comments:

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Herald:
...but I wanted to get this out firsthand and quickly before a rumor mill begins....

This is still your version of the story and your story does point to what some might call, negligence...for instance:

quote:

As I fell, I hit the trigger and my gun discharged.

Rifle basics: 1. Do not keep your finger on the trigger of a loaded weapon. 2. Do not walk backwards with a loaded weapon, especially if your finger is on the trigger. 2. Always keep your rifle pointed in a safe direction 3. Know your target etc.

quote:

I want to start a Stuart Taylor Relief Fund as soon as possible,

Yes.


A Few Questions below this quote:

quote:

...PH Stu Taylor, his 2 trackers, my cameraman and I were buffalo hunting in Niassa Reserve. We bumped a loan bull twice in the morning, and by 8:00ish AM we decided to leave him for the afternoon hunt. We began again at 3:30PM, and by 4:30, the buff had us moving very slowly through some very nasty and thick jesse. ...

At what point do you leave a buff alone, especially with such a large crew of people? It sounds like there were plenty of signals that this bull was going to charge. It should not be all about showing what's good for the camera (unless you're Mark Sullivan..and I think he sucks) on TV, but it should be about fair chase and safe hunting...there were similar incidents in the past where the larger the crew (anythnig beyond 3-4 people is, IMHO, too many)and the more persistence (need to get this done for the TV sponsors) annoyed the buff into charging...

Just a few comments and questions. People need to do a better job with their skills, safety practices and know when to say fair chase vs. getting the crew involved, at all costs, to get in a shot with limited time. Tomorrow's another day and that's hunting...it's not some darn TV episode.

quote:

Originally posted by D'Angelico Fan:

quote:

Originally posted by Buzz Charlton:
Personally I feel that surely we must direct positive thoughts to the healing of the physical and emotional scars rather then try to determine where the fault was when there , in my eyes, was no fault other then that of bad luck for which we have no control over anyway!

In his own words Mr. Herald ASSUMED the buff was fleeing when he burst from the brush.
It seems the wrong state of mind since visibility was down to 10 yards at the farthest. Don't you
need to be thinking, "It's nasty here; and he might COME!". UNINTENTIONALLY Mr. Herald
pointed his rifle at his PH and at the same time UNINTENTIONALLY hit the trigger shooting
the PH. Poor muzzle control and poor trigger control clearly are two factors; add them to
the initial erroneous assumption. Walking backwards in the highly stressful situation of
the charge is another factor. If we don't critically analyze these unintended shootings of
people we reduce our ability to lessen their frequency. There is no evil intent in this
incident. But I do think fault can be determined and learned from. Morally I'd submit that
we must try to learn from such serious incidents. I reconstructed the incident putting it
into the context of a police involved shooting in a typical big USA city. If you read it
through I think there's value in it.

Four cops comprising an arrest team have tracked their fugitive, (a guy
known to carry knives and whom has threatened to kill any cops who try
to arrest him) to his residence in a high rise, high crime district
apartment building. The cops are in the hallway tactically positioned
from each other and moving forward at the same time, toward the fugitive's
apartment door. Cop 1, on point, gets to within 10 yards of the fugitive's
apartment door and it bursts open. The fugitive, bearing a ten inch knife
in each hand charges toward the arrest team. Cop 4 , who was several yards
behind Cop 1 ASSUMED when the fugitive burst through the door that he was
fleeing. As those ahead of Cop 4 repositioned, Cop 4 saw that his ASSUMPTION
was wrong; and that the fugitive was running toward the arrest team with the
knives in his hands thrust forward. Cop 4 starts to walk backwards while
bringing up his 12 Ga. shotgun loaded with slugs. Then Cop 4 slips on a
banana peel, starts to fall backwards, fails to control the direction that
his shotgun's muzzle is pointed such that it is now lined up with Cop 1 's
back, at the same time fails to keep control of the trigger of his shotgun,
hits it, firing a slug into Cop 1 's back causing serious injury, and but
for the Grace of God does not kill Cop 1 . Cop 1 by the way, a micro-
second before being shot himself had fired at the fugitive who then turned and
ran off to some unknown location.

What do you think the police department does with these facts? They analyze
them in pursuit of reducing the number of future "Friendly Fire" incidents,
that's what. They make a determination as to whether or not all parties acted
in compliance with ALL OF THE PROCEDURES THAT ARE IN PLACE INCLUDING SAFETY
PROCEDURES, THAT'S WHAT. If violations of those procedures are determined
to have occurred BLAME IS PLACED! The office of the PROSECUTOR analyzes
the facts to determine if CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE OR WRECKLESSNESS CHARGES ought to
be presented to a Grand Jury to vote on.

A man was SHOT people! If you and your 20 year old son go on safari and the PH
shoots your son OR YOU SHOOT YOUR SON, will you be equally tolerant toward that
PH OR TOWARD YOURSELF, as you are being toward the shooter in this case? I sure
have read alot of posts in his thread that sound quite nonchalant about a man
being shot.

quote:

Originally posted by John Chalmers:
Good luck to you both for a full recovery.
Im a nube here who has followed this forum for years and l feel that Tim is one of the good guys.
The strength of support and best wishes for Tim from the folks on AR comes as no surprise to me.
Let he without sin cast the first stone.jc

quote:

Originally posted by BigBoreCore:
Hunter54 is correct. You must keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. It is unclear from Tim's post if his finger was already on the trigger when he fell or if he hit it when falling backwards, as he states;

"As I fell, I hit the trigger and my gun discharged."

Condolences to all involved and wishes for a speedy recovery. Taking a 458 slug through the back at close range and surviving is a miracle in itself.

Tim will be doing a great service to the entire industry by featuring this incident with honest analysis in one of his Magnum episodes.

quote:

Originally posted by BigBoreCore:
TW,

You should NEVER have your finger on the trigger until you have decided to fire. Being ready to fire by having your finger on the trigger is a big mistake and is why we have accidental discharges. Keep your finger off the trigger until you have decided to fire.....DO NOT ever let it rest on the trigger ready to fire!

Mike